week 9

I have not paid close attention this week as my need to keep informed is at odds with my need to keep emotionally stable. This country is still in free fall and will be til November when hopefully we will land on our feet.

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Still no plan from the government, still no nationwide testing because Trump doesn't want to know and doesn't want the country and world to know how widespread the virus is here, infections and deaths still climbing. Trump still bored. Trump #2 son calling the shutdowns a Democratic hoax to defeat his daddy and thinks the virus will magically disappear on election day. Trump back to blaming anyone and everyone for his lack of performance. Trump yelling Obamagate with no specifics and says everyone knows what the crime is. Another inspector general fired, this time from the state department for opening an investigation into Pompeo's misuse of government funds and personnel. The Senate still does nothing. Trump and Barr still using their positions to retaliate against Trump opponents. People still protesting the safety regulations and getting ugly about it. People still refusing to abide by businesses' requirements to wear a mask to enter and getting ugly about it. Republicans deeply worried about their reelection chances because they have allowed Trump to get away with everything start accusing their Democrat opponents of pedophilia or dementia while actively supporting republican pedophiles and one very demented president. Trump and his sniveling family members still complaining that the American public doesn't appreciate them enough. And it just goes on.

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Some good news. Therapeutics company Sorrento has made what it believes could be a breakthrough in potential treatment of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that leads to COVID-19. Read the article here. 

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There's been a lot of claims of tyranny and trampled rights from the anti-safety regulation crowd about their temporary inconvenience. That they are out there protesting against safety regulations without being arrested shows no rights are being suppressed but still they act as if they were being marched into concentration camps instead of being asked to wear masks and wash their hands and stay home unless it's absolutely necessary. Amazing what the selfish crowd thinks is absolutely necessary regardless of who is put in harm's way as long as they get what they want. There was an outright physical tussle between an employee wearing a mask and a customer refusing to wear a mask when they had to physically remove the customer for refusing to complying and was doing her best not to be shoved out the door. (At the end of the video you could hear a person out of sight yelling that they had been standing in line for 3 hours for food. At Red Lobster. 3 hours. Seriously, go to the grocery store, buy a lobster, and cook it at home. It's easy and will taste better.) And the violence is escalating...security guards shot for not allowing unmasked people into a store, death threats against the governor of Michigan, threats of violence in general. None of which has been condemned by Trump or Republicans.

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With freedom comes responsibility.

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My county has one new case, up to 42, still no deaths. The state, however, after being opened prematurely by our Republican governor, has seen an increasing number of cases and deaths, just like all the states that have opened up.

Gee, who could have predicted that.

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So far all my family and friends are safe and healthy and staying in, working from home as much as possible. Nine weeks of no outside activities...no yoga classes, no estate sales, no events at Hesed House to check out, no neighborhood get-togethers, no running to whatever store for whatever is needed and to tell the truth, not much is actually needed, and I've managed to keep busy enough but now, it's summer and too hot for most of what has kept me busy. I have a new set of colored pencils that Jade sent me for my birthday I could draw with, I have watercolors and paper I could paint with, I have stuff to make models for new sculptures with, I could even get out the modeling glass and see if any of it is still usable but I'm feeling completely unmotivated in that regard. Is this quarantine ennui or just regular ennui?

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Current US statistics from Worldometer.com as of today  5/17/20, 16:00 GMT (last eight weeks' totals in parenthesis): cases – 1,512,267 (1,384,681, 1,168985, 976,403, 741,230, 534,494, 312,223, 123,958, 38,757); deaths – 90,206 (81,724, 67,954, 54,965, 39,103, 20,637, 8,483, 2,231, 400); (no longer care about recoveries).

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The rate of deaths has slowed somewhat but that may change soon as the effects of rescinding the stay at home orders and opening of businesses are made apparent.

week 1     400 deaths

week 2    1,831

week 3    6,552

week 4    12,154

week 5    18,466

week 6    15,862

week 7    12,989

week 8 (8 days)    13,770

week 9 (6 days)    8,482